Faith in Action. A complete branding solution.

By Jessica Skretch
May 23, 2007

Faith in Action (FIA) is a relief organization whose mission is to share the love of God by serving the persecuted, poor and suffering in conflict & disaster regions of the world. One of the unique aspects of FIA is their relative small size contrasted with their large work. As a light and efficient organization, they quickly respond to urgent needs when other organizations are slowed by internal bureaucracy. Having the privilege of one-on-one conversations, we quickly understood their unique abilities and noble mission. But in order for that understanding to develop with their larger audience, the compelling work and authenticity of FIA needed to permeate all of their points of contact-their website, emails, printed newsletters, thank-you letters, etc.

Our goals for FIA were to improve their communication strategy, help them connect with audiences that could continue to support their mission, and lift the burden of communication from lying solely on the shoulders of their small staff.

Realizing An Identity

FIA’s new logo needed to communicate their speed and ground-level involvement with the needs they serve. Inspired by the flight of a bird, the shapes of the new logo visually represents the speed and mobility in which Faith in Action responds. The dramatic angles create motion, while the peaceful sliced ovals balance and soften the mark. Two pen-strokes split the logo in half, adding a more grounded; physical element. With a fresh logo in hand, Silas Partners developed an identity system that included: new business cards, a letterhead, and sets of envelopes.

Building A Site

Our next major step was beginning the website architecture. Being able to clearly define FIA would be crucial to meeting the needs of new visitors. However, once these visitors are informed, the site needed to connect them with the personal stories of lives touched by FIA, and drive them to the calls-to-action. For these reasons, the architecture of the site is designed to allow new visitors reading about FIA’s unchanging mission to easily click over to stories about their recent work and needs.

Key features of the new site design include:

• Appealingly simple navigation coupled with a clean site design invite the user into a comfortable experience.
• Blog-style updates on regional stories allows for the small staff to keep the site fresh while keeping maintenance time to a minimum.
• Consistent incorporation of real photos from FIA’s work all over the world helps to connect visitors with those in need.
• Calls to action (pray, share and donate) have a global presence, driving home ways for visitors to easily get involved.

Don’t Disappoint The Inbox

If you build it, they will come. And they will expect more. Knowing that their audience would be treated to a satisfying online experience, it was up to FIA to ensure that follow up communication didn’t fall short. Of course, we were there to help. After determining their needs and doing strategic planning for the email communication, we created a general purpose email stationery as well as flexible region-based stationery. The regional stationery included a header designed to easily swap out photos and customize emails with artwork relevant to the email content. In additional, we built a new print newsletter template for them, so FIA could easily change and distribute updates by mail each month.

Throughout our entire relationship with FIA, we have been inspired by their humility and the important work that they do, in areas of desperate need. We hope that you will check out their site and find out more about them.

If you are in need of assistance with your own branding and communication efforts, give us a call to find out how we can help you.